Fuel question

My factory recommended fuel is min 89 octane, however there are a couple of gas stations close by me that has the 91 non-oxy gas. Is it better to use the non-oxy gas in a '94 bike or doesn't really make a difference and I can just continue with the regular 89? If anyone has an answer please let me know. Thank you!

Gas

I have same bike and it seems like to me that it does not really matter what gas I put in tank, but I can convince my self with no proof that mileage a bit better or it runs better on premium gas .
What seems to make a difference is a dose of Chevron Techron or the bmw stuff in the gas tank every so often.

It will get better mileage with the non-ethanol fuel. Not because the octane is higher but rather, because it is all gasoline. Ethanol contains fewer BTU per liter. How much better is variable but 5% to 10% better seems to be the range. So doing the math if you get x% better mileage and the price is less than x% higher it would be worth it. That has not seemed to be the recent case. If I can buy non-ethanol for less than a 10% bump I do it.

There is a modest improvement in mpg, but the real benefit is in the fuel system internals. Ethanol is caustic, and if it sits in the tank for long it is prone to water separation. I switched all of my bikes to E-0 gas several years ago. I only add E-10 gas rarely when the non-ethanol pumps are unavailable. No water in my tanks and fuel hoses have stayed pliable. Just my observation.

If I had the option to use non ethanol I would 100% of the time as long as the price were reasonable. A sealed 5 gallon bucket of weed eater/chainsaw/lawnmower gas in $30 here and I obviously cant fill up with that while on the road.


Ethanol is hard on fuel systems and probably even harder on early FI bikes.



If I had a choice like you and decided to go with ethanol added fuel I would try to make my last fill up of the season real gas and run it for a few minutes before shutting her down so the real gas would have a chance to work its way through the system. FI, with its return system rather than a float bowl will circulate through your system much faster than on a carbureted bike.

Thanks for the replies and explanations, I am also more into paying a little extra if it helps expanding the life and function of my bike. I'll continue using the non-oxy - as I did in my 600cc '86 Yamaha (with four carbs) for 9 years, before I got the BMW ... (Yamaha sold now). Appreciate all the replies!